Vine-grasper.



G. B. MILLER.

VINE GRASPBR.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 5, 1910.

Patented Feb. 25; 1913.

COLUMBIA MNOQIAPN C0-- WAIHMN. D. C.

UNITED STATES QPATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. MILLER, 01? SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO E. CLEMENSHORST COMPANY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF NEWJERSEY.

VINE-GRASPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 25, 1913.

Application filed May 5, 1910. Serial No. 559,622.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE E. h'lnmnn, acitizen of the United States, residing at Sacramento, in the county ofSacramento and State of California, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Vine-Graspers, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to an apparatus for grasping and holding a vine,like a hop vine, while the same is being drawn through a picking machineto remove the hops or other fruit from the vine.

The invention consists of the parts and the construction andcon'ibinat-ion of parts as hereinafter more fully described and claimed,having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is aplan view in partial section of the grasper closed, and with thereleasing device for the grasper in position for opening the jaws. Fig.2 is a plan view of the grasper with the jaws open at the moment thatthe releasing device has about completed its work. Fig. 3 is anelevation of a hop-picking machine, showing the application of theinvention. Fig. 1 is a detail of the free end of a releasing bar,showing the pivoted tongue, and Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation on theline 5-5 of Fig. 1, showing a fragment of the cross bar and the means oftripping the vine grasper.

WVhile in the embodiment of the invention I have shown the same asparticularly applied for use in a hop-picking machine where it has beenput to practical operation, nevertheless it will be understood that itmay be used elsewhere and in other machines, wherever it is desired togrip and hold a vine while its fruit or leaves are being stripped fromit.

Having reference to the drawings, A represents a pair of endless chainsor equivalent passing over suitable direction pulleys 2 and betweenupper and lower series of picking drums or fruit-stripping devices Thechains or carriers A are connected across at suitable intervals by theangle-iron bars 6, and pivoted to each of these bars and in the anglethereof and adjacent to each of the chains A, are two gripping members 7fulcrumed at 8, and each having a triangular jaw portion 9 adapted tocoact with the angle of bar 6 to grip and hold a vine, as 10. A spring11 bears on the opposite or handle end of each gripper 7 normally tocause the jaws 9 to open outward from the angle-bar 6 and release thevine. A sliding collar 12 acted on by a spring 13 tends normally topress al *ays inward toward pivot S, and to slide underneath the handleportion of the gripper to cause the jaw to close on the angle-bar 6 andagainst the tension of the spring 11. The handle 14 of the gripper has ashouldered portion 14 which passes into the angle and forms a stop tothe collar 12 when the jaws are opened, as in Fig. 2. If the handlelt'is thrown in the direction of the arrow 7), Fig. 2, collar 12 willfly in underneath the handle, as shown in Fig. 1, so that when thehandle is released the collar will maintain the jaws 9 closed andgripped on thevine 10 against the action of spring 11.

In the machines in which these vine graspers are used, suitable means,as the hinged bars 15 having the depending fingers 16, are employed toshove back automatically the collars 12 and release the stripped vine.There is one of these bars 15 for each collar 12, and these bars arefulcrumed, at 17, to a fixed part of the machine, and are inclinedoutwardly. Their relative position in the machine is represented at theright of Fig. 3. These bars are hingedly supported inside the line oftravel of the carrier chains A and of the grasper bars 6, and normallythe hinged sections or fingers 16 depend into the path of a bar 6; thearms 15 being yieldingly held in operative position by suitable means,as the coimterweighted cords or connections 18, and the inward movementof each arm 15 being limited by a stop 19. With the arms 15 in theposition shown in Fig. 1, a fingcr 16 is encountered by an approachinggrasper bar (3 just inside of the end of a collar 12. Since the fulcrum17 of the arms 15 is fixed, and the bar 6 moves continuously, it ismanifest that the bar 15 .will move outward in an are, represented bythe dotted lines, causing the collar 12 to slide out and compress itsspring 13 until it passes beyond the shoulder 14 of handle 14, whereuponthe vine is released, and spring 11 will then hold the gripper jaw 9open until an operator manually closes it. Meanwhile the bar 6 movingforward against the downwardly projecting finger 16 (which latter isprevented from swinging inward by the stop afforded at 20, Fig. 4) willcontinue to push the arm 15 outward and turn it on its pivot 17 untilthe arm 15 is paral lel, or nearly parallel, with rod 6, whereupon (asshown in Fig. 2) the inclined surface 21 of finger 16, coming in contactwith the front edge of the. grasp-er bar 6, will straighten out thefinger, as shown in full lines, Fig. 41-, releasing the arm 15 andallowing it to swing back into the position shown in Fig. 1, ready tointercept the next grasper bar 6 as it comes along, and open its gripperjaws 9 in a similar manner.

It will be understood that the device here shown is particularlydesigned and adapted for use on a hop picker of relatively enormoussize. These machines are often sixty feet in length and proportionatelylarge in their other dimensions. By reference to the partly diagrammaticview of Fig. 3 it will be seen that the conveyer chain passes over thepulleys at 2 and it is at this point that the vines are fed to themachine manually from the wagons or other means, whereby the unpickedhop vines are conveyed from the field.

In operation the grasper in the position of Fig. 2, passes around thepulleys 2 and the butt end of a vine is presented to the V- shapedopening between the angle bar and the jaw 9. A quickpull on the handlelat then allows the collar 12 to slide behind the heel 14. and the vineis securely locked between the parts. In this way it is carried throughthe whole length of the machine and is finally released by mechanismheretofore described just prior to repassing over the pulley 2.

It will be seen that there is a particular advantage in the angularconstruction of the cross bar 6, and in the manner of mounting the saidbar with relation to the jaws 9. In the construction shown the butt endof the vine is securely held against any possi-. ble chance of removalbefore the proper time. This is important as the vines are very heavyand if they become disengaged during their passage through the machinethey are liable to cause breakage and delay operations.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is- 1. A vine grasper comprising, in combination, aconveyer element, a plurality of carriers associated with said conveyerelement, normally open, pivotally mounted jaws on said carriers,spring-pressed collars mounted on said carriers, said collarscooperating with said pivo-tally mounted jaws and adapted to wedge thejaws securely against said carriers and a common means for retractingsaid collars on said carriers, whereby to allow said jaws to shift withrelation to said collar, substantially as described.

2. A vine grasper comprising, in combination, a conveyer element, aplurality of carriers associated. with said conveyer element, normallyopen, pivotally mounted jaws on said carriers, spring-pressed collarsmounted on said carriers, said collars cooperating with said pivotallymounted jaws and adapted to wedge the jaws securely against saidcarriers, and a common means for retracting said collars on saidcarriers, said means including pivoted arms provided with pivotedfingers, substantially as described.

3. A vine grasper comprising, in combination, conveyer chains, a carriermember spanning said chains, a normallyretracted grasper elementpivotally mounted on said carrier, said grasper element having a jaw anda heel, a spring thrust collar mounted on said carrier and adapted whenin one position to wedge said jaw against said carrier and in anotherposition to be held against the heel of said grasper element, andautomatic means for shifting said collar in order to permit said jaw torecede from said carrier, substantially as described.

4. The combination of an endless carrier comprising a pair of spacedparallel chains, an anglebar connecting the chains, a hingedvine-grasping jaw member on the anglebar and cooperating therewith, anda sliding part cooperating with the angle-bar and jaw member to hold thejaw closed.

5. The combination of an endless carrier comprising a pair of spacedparallel chains, an angle-bar connecting the chains, hingedvine-grasping jaw member on the angle-bar and cooperating therewith, asliding part cooperating with the angle-bar and jaw member to hold thejaw closed, and means operative during the travel of the carrierautomatically to actuate the sliding part to allow the jaws to open.

6. A vine grasper'comprising an angle bar mounted for travel in adirection transverse to its length, and means cooperating with a flangeof said angle-bar to grasp a vine.

7 A vine grasper comprising an anglebar mounted for travel in adirection transverse to its length, and means cooperating with a flangeof said angle-bar to grasp a vine, said last-named means including ahinged jaw member operative in the opening of the angle-bar.

8. A vine,grasper comprising an anglebar mounted for travel in adirect-ion transverse to its length, means cooperating with a flange ofsaid angle-bar to grasp a vine, said last-named means including a hingedjaw member operative in the side opening of the angle-bar, said awmember pivoted between its ends, and a lock operative between one end ofthe jaw member and angle-bar to hold the jaw closed.

9. A vine grasper comprising an anglebar mounted for travel in adirection transverse to its length, means cooperating with a flange ofsaid angle-bar to grasp a vine, said last-named means including a hingedjaw member operative in the side opening of the angle-bar, said jawmember pivoted between its ends, a lock operative between one end of thejaw member and angle-bar to hold the jaw closed, and means in the pathof the lock automatically to release and allow said jaw member to open.

10. A vine grasper comprising an angle bar mounted for travel in adirection transverse to its length, and means cooperating with a flangeof said angle-bar to grasp a vine, said last-named means including a jawmember pivoted between its ends, with one end cotiperating with theangle-bar as a clamp.

11. A vine grasper comprising an angle bar mounted for travel in adirection transverse to its length, means cooperating with a flange ofsaid angle-bar to grasp a vine, said last-named means including a jawmember pivoted between. its ends, with one end cooperating with theangle-bar as a clamp, a spring acting to hold the jaw member normallyopen, and a slidin sleeve cooperating with the opposite end of the jawmember to hold the jaw closed.

12. A vine grasper comprising an anglebar mounted for travel in adirection transverse to its length, means cooperating with a flange ofsaid angle-bar to grasp a vine, said last-named means including a jawmember pivoted between its ends, with one end cooperating with theangle-bar as a clamp, a spring acting to hold the jaw member normall yopen, a sliding sleeve coiiperating with the opposite end of the jawmember to hold end of the jaw member and angle-bar to hold the jawclosed, a stop on the jaw member operative to limit the movement of saidsliding member when the aw is opened, and a spring acting on saidsliding member in opposition to said stop.

12-3. A vine grasper comprising an anglebaimounted for travel in adirection transverse to its length, means cooperating with a flange ofsaid angle-bar to grasp a vine, said last-named means including a jawmember pivoted between its ends, with one end cooperating with theangle-bar as a clamp, a spring acting to hold the jaw member normallyopen, a sliding sleeve cooperating with the opposite end of the jawmember to hold the jaw closed, a stop on the jaw member operative tolimit the movement of said sliding member when the j aw is opened, aspring acting on said sliding'member in opposition to said stop, andmeans in the path of the carrier automatically to open said jaw member.7

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

GEORGE E. MILLER.

\Vitnesses LESTER J. HiNsDALn, Tiino. EDER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

